Wastelander

Welcome to the forum, K4L! I recognize you from elsewhere on the internet, so it's good to have you here!

Thanks! I really wish I had a better showing in Round 1, and I would like to do one more fight to prove that I can do better, but my health troubles have put that on indefinite hold. In any case, I'm glad you liked the videos! I just put them up for fun, or to explain something I've been discussing with people online, and I encourage others to do the same! We definitely need to have you come up to the dojo for a visit!

I am, thanks! Typically, I'll practice kata wherever I am staying. On this particular vacation, we also went to some beaches that had very few people present, so I didn't feel awkward about practicing there. When there are lots of people around, but I feel the need to practice, I will usually practice kata or techniques that tend to be more circular, and practice them slowly. Nobody really cares about the guy doing tai chi

I actually just got back from a week vacation, during which time I also had the flu. Let's just say, I didn't really feel up to training when I had to use all my energy to do all the hiking we had to do. I did practice a little bit of kata, as well, but otherwise my only exercise was the hiking. Normally, I work on my kata every day, and work in some bodyweight exercises--push-ups and sit-ups, at least. If I can find something to do dips or pull-ups on, I'll do those, as well.

I know 33 empty-hand kata, and THAT is too many! Only 19 of them are part of my current style's curriculum, and THAT is too many! Seriously, if I could just do Naihanchi, Passai, Kusanku, and Seiunchin, I would be a happy man.

Seisan is a very interesting kata--it's very common, and yet noticeably missing from lineages that it should probably be in. My style, for example, doesn't have it. My Sensei knows the version that was taught by Taika Oyata, and he taught me the first 1/3, but I never bothered to learn the rest. I have too many kata, as it is . If you're interested in Seisan, my friend Matt put together this interesting and informative post about it a while back: http://www.ikigaiway.com/2012/a-historical-walking-tour-of-seisan-kata/

As a Shorin-Ryu karateka, I find Isshin-Ryu to be quite strange. Not bad, mind you. Just strange. There are some very dedicated, knowledgeable people in Isshin-Ryu, so even though it's going to be significantly different from your Shorin-Ryu, you could benefit from it. Go and try out a class!

Yes, we already had quite a lengthy discussion on that one, not too long ago. I love the side kick, but because my opponent was a wrestler, I decided not to use it. Round kicks were to be used sparingly, as well, but I knew he liked to drop his lead hand for a knee-pick while throwing an overhand right, which left him open for the kick I landed.

There are points in every martial artist's journey where they feel embarrassed by their perceived lack of skills/talent/fitness/etc. Many people quit when they reach these points, and those of us that keep going are the ones who benefit from our training the most, I believe. Don't worry about your belt rank, competition, or comparison to other karateka--just train and focus on yourself. Right now, you're still a beginner, and no one expects you to be an expert. All you have to do, at this point, is try to be better than you were the last time you were on the mat. Sometimes, you'll have a bad day and feel like you're slipping backward. Just get back on the mat the next day and get back to work. It's this constant chipping away that reveals that karateka within you. Lupin1 and Archimoto had excellent advise with regard to setting small, achievable, short-term goals to keep you motivated. Those are what you need right now, in my opinion.

Yes, it's a round kick, and I actually caught him with the bone at the transition from my ankle to my instep--which is precisely where I intended, so I felt good about that. If you watch the whole thing, you see a bunch of people coming up and talking to me, and me pointing to that spot on my foot. They all thought I hit him with the knee, which is illegal in amateur MMA in this state. I assured them that I felt contact with my foot, and the red spot backed me up. Thankfully, some video taken at other angles shows that my knee was past his head and my foot is what made contact with him. Here is one alternate angle: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2m3kSi888CI/Ugo1UxDt5HI/AAAAAAAAHQs/xErKWveSmwA/s1600/MMA+Debut+-+KO+from+Live+Feed+Replay.gif And another, where you can see that my foot hit him: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2GYJNX3ZeYc/Uhgl_SP9fHI/AAAAAAAAHcw/HQmIr_enFPc/s1600/MMA+Debut+-+KO+3.gif

Well, I have a ton of videos of myself doing a variety of things--kata, techniques, exercises, etc. My latest is a video of myself performing Tachimura no Naihanchi on top of a ~10ft tall boulder on a beach in Canada: Some other ones that I really like, personally, are below. Applications for nami-gaeshi (the foot sweeping motion in Naihanchi): Demonstrating an application for the spin in Kusanku: My first (and so far, only) MMA fight, despite the embarrassing first round: ___________________________________________________ As far as C-stepping/crescent-stepping goes, it's our primary stepping method, as well. That said, I started my training in a style that steps almost exclusively in straight lines--the idea being that straight lines are the shortest distance between two points and, therefore, the fastest method of stepping. I don't necessarily agree with that, but I also think that modern C-stepping is an exaggeration. If you look at older systems of karate, such as KishimotoDi and Motobu Udundi, they step much more naturally. A straight line isn't a natural step, and neither is a full C-step. Instead, something in between the two is much more natural, faster, and works just as well for generating power.

I remember when you were debating leaving your old dojang, and I believe it sounded very cult-like. I don't see returning to that environment as being a good idea, unless things have changed a great deal. This particular situation sounds like the instructor was trying to illustrate that you aren't ready to test yet, and shouldn't be asking to test early. Probably a little too bluntly, but some instructors are that way.

We have used oak for ours at the dojo, and I used it for mine at home, and it works quite well. We do the leaf spring design, with varying lengths of boards backing each other. If you use 1x6 oak boards, then you should only need two (one about 10" shorter than the other), but if you use 1x4 oak boards, you will probably need three or four. How you are going to mount the makiwara also matters--are you bolting it to the floor, or the wall, or burying it? As far as the pad goes, I've seen a wide variety of materials used. I used manilla rope that I bunched up, then wrapped up, singed off the "hairs" with a lighter, then soaked it in water and flattened it with a mallet. At the dojo, we have the standard Shureido leather pads, although I can also make leather pads. I know a guy who uses old firehoses, another who uses rubber bushings, and another who uses old towels.

I suspect that many of them do not do this on purpose--they have simply researched things so in-depth, and have explained them so many times, that they try to find ways to explain that they find interesting. Of course, there are still plenty instructors out there who use big words and complicated phrasing to make themselves feel smarter. The trick is figuring out which is which. Usually, the first group have something valuable to teach, and the second group want you to believe they have something valuable to teach.

Welcome to the forum! I actually just received my shodan ranking in Shorin-Ryu this past weekend, and I tested along with a dedicated 16 year old. I have been training for 8 years, and he's been training about that long, as well--if not a little longer. In my opinion, if your instructor believes you have what it takes, and you can pass the test at 16-17 years old, then your rank is just as legitimate as someone passing it when they are 18 years old. The fact that your instructor made you wait as long as 9 years before testing is a pretty good sign that he doesn't promote people lightly. Congratulations on passing your test, and enjoy your training!

Welcome back to karate, and welcome to the forum!

My primary concern is durability. I would really like a heavyweight gi made of 100% hemp, but nobody makes one--I have a lightweight hemp gi that I had someone make (didn't turn out that great, though), and a hemp jujutsu gi that I love (but it's shrunk a bit too much). Hemp is 4 times stronger than cotton, antimicrobial, provides UV protection, and is easier on the environment, so I just see all kinds of benefits. As far as cut goes, I'm partial to an "Okinawan cut," which isn't an official thing. Basically, though, it's a longer jacket (about mid-thigh) with 3/4 sleeves and pant legs.

It looks like the Tokyodo SP-1000 is a cotton/polyester blend. They do that to make the gi look nicer, because it doesn't wrinkle and crease as much as a 100% cotton one. I don't have any experience with that brand, specifically, and have always bought 100% cotton dogi, but I imagine it would be fine.

I'm afraid it depends on the brand. Some brands call their heavyweight gi "Shihan," while some have different fabric blends for their regular heavyweight and their "Shihan" gi.

Hello everyone, A friend of mine introduced me to the YouTube Channel for a Yin style Bagua group that has been uploading a lot of material over the past week from a training camp they recently did. I found the videos to be very interesting, and there were a lot of techniques with similarities to karate. Since some of you might find it interesting, I thought I would go ahead and share it here, as well. Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/user/YSBinternational/videos

No, everyone is not rich--those brands are simply much cheaper in Japan, because they are Japanese companies. Most of the people I know that live on Okinawa have bought every belt (white through black) from Shureido, which is a top brand, as well. Whenever people I know travel to Japan and Okinawa, they always bring back uniforms and belts because it's so much cheaper.

If you are expecting to be moved by the military soon, then I don't see any point in trying to pick up a new style in your current area. You likely won't be around long enough to develop a good base in it, and it will just confuse your Matsubayashi-Ryu unless you devote a great deal of time to replacing your Matsubayashi-Ryu habits with Shotokan habits. Personally, I think you are better off practicing what you already know--if you have the time to consider joining a new club, you have time to train on your own, and if you love it as much as you say, that shouldn't be a problem. All that said, it probably wouldn't hurt to go in and train with them a bit, now and then. Not to pick up their style, but to get motivated to train harder, and get some partner work in. Maybe they have sparring classes you could come to, which would be less style-specific.

Thanks for the support, everyone! Yesterday was a long day, and I'm sore all over, today, but I passed! http://s10.postimg.org/4noq0bry1/noah_sensei_poage_2.jpg

Competition gets you amped up and floods your body with adrenaline and endorphins, so you're partially numb. Sparring is nowhere near as high-stress, so you feel those kicks and punches a lot more. Honestly, we only spar medium-contact or less, and save heavier contact for competition--it cuts down on injuries, and gets more people to spar more often. I'm not terribly fond of sparring, myself, but I understand its value, so I do it anyway.

My Sensei likes cross-training, and advocates it, but if you are going to be doing it consistently, it's best to wait until you have a solid base in our style. We've had some people who tried taking our style and a different style, consistently, at the same time, and they just got confused